Real Madrid will face Liverpool in the Champions League quarterfinals, while there will be a repeat of last season's final as Bayern Munich were drawn against Paris Saint-Germain.

The other ties will see Manchester City taking on Borussia Dortmund and FC Porto facing Chelsea

The draw took place on Friday, March 19 at 7 a.m. ET in Nyon, Switzerland.

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Only two of the remaining teams are top of the table in their domestic leagues; with La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid having been knocked out in the round of 16.

City and PSG are the only sides left in the competition who have never won the Champions League, though the French side did reach the final last season and will be looking to build on that.

QUARTERFINALS

Manchester City vs. Borussia Dortmund

FC Porto vs. Chelsea

Bayern Munich vs. Paris Saint-Germain

Real Madrid vs. Liverpool

SEMIFINALS

Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain vs. Manchester City or Borussia Dortmund

Real Madrid or Liverpool vs. FC Porto or Chelsea

Sri Lanka XI 172 (Fernando 47, Chandimal 40, Phillip 3-47, Roach 2-41) and 56 for 0 (Karunaratne 27*, Thirimanne 23*) drew with West Indies President's XI 294 (Hope 68, Mayers 57, Chase 52, de Silva 3-26, Embuldeniya 3-69)

Dhananjaya de Silva marked his return to competitive cricket with a three-wicket haul, while left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya warmed up for the West Indies Tests with three wickets of his own, but concerns over Sri Lanka's batting persist following an underwhelming performance in a drawn two-day practice match in Antigua.

The West Indies President's XI, meanwhile, had contributions from Shai Hope (68), Kyle Mayers (57), and Kemar Roach (2 for 41). The game's standout performance, however, belonged to Roston Chase, who claimed 4 for 12 with his offspin to cut down the Sri Lanka XI's lower middle order, before making 52 with the bat. Chase is not in the Test squad, nor is Hope. The West Indies XI made 294, establishing a 122-run first-innings lead.

On the first day of the match, the Sri Lanka XI was out for 172, with Oshada Fernando top-scoring with 47 while three of the top five failed to make it out of single-figures. The only other batsman to make 40 was Dinesh Chandimal, who batted at No. 6. That the team was all out for 172 inside 50 overs was especially worrying given nine batsmen were in this practice-match line-up. In the second innings, Sri Lanka's openers - Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne, remained not out after 13 overs, the team score on 56.

Sri Lanka's spinners made more headway than their batsmen on what appeared to have been a Coolidge surface suited to slow bowlers. Embuldeniya - now Sri Lanka's premier long-format spinner - took 3 for 69, with Chase among his victims. Offspinner De Silva's figures were even better. Playing his first match since Boxing Day, when he tore a muscle in his thigh, he claimed 3 for 26 from 10 overs. Seamer Suranga Lakmal also returned good figures with the ball, taking 2 for 14 from his ten overs. Dushmantha Chameera, who is likely to be in the Test XI, was rested for this game.

The first of two Tests - both to be played in Antigua - begins on Sunday.

Afghanistan have named an unchanged playing XI and opted for first strike after winning the toss in the second T20I against Zimbabwe - who also fielded the same XI as in the first game - in Abu Dhabi on Friday. Afghanistan rode on half-centuries from Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Asghar Afghan to put up 198 for 5 in the first T20I before restricting Zimbabwe to 150 for 7, with Rashid Khan taking 3 for 28.

Incidentally, it's the 50th T20I appearance for Khan, who is just eight wickets away from becoming only the second bowler - after Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga - to get to the milestone of 100 wickets in the format. Between Malinga (107 T20I wickets) and Khan are Shahid Afridi (98) and Tim Southee (93).

There was still no sign of Gulbadin Naib and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, or Hamid Hassan, Waqar Salamkheil and Azmatullah Omarzai, the Afghanistan players whose arrival to the UAE have been delayed because of a "visa issue".

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Karim Janat, Asghar Afghan (capt), Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Usman Ghani, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Rashid Khan, Amir Hamza, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fareed Ahmed.

Zimbabwe: Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Tarisai Musakanda, Sean Williams (capt), Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl, Richmond Mutumbami (wk), Wesley Madhevere, Donald Tiripano, Brandon Mavuta, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava.

ATLANTA -- Fourteen Atlanta Hawks players received their first vaccinations for COVID-19 following Thursday night's win over Oklahoma City.

The team said in a statement after the game that 36 individuals with the basketball operations staff, including 14 players, took their first dose after meeting the state's eligibility requirements.

Three players were not vaccinated because they didn't meet Georgia standards to qualify.

"Increasing access to health, wellness and play throughout the greater Atlanta community continues to be a priority for our organization," the statement said. "As eligibility for vaccination continues to expand, we intend to use our platform and influence to encourage and educate citizens on the importance of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you are eligible, especially younger adults and communities of color."

The Hawks and the New Orleans Pelicans are the only NBA teams to confirm that players and basketball staff have received initial doses of the vaccine.

Many of the players were able to qualify because they meet Georgia's standards that anyone with a body mass index over 25 is eligible.

LOS ANGELES -- LeBron James has been awarded the NBA's MVP award four times in his career, tied with Wilt Chamberlain for the third most all time, but one of his teammates, Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma, says James should have double that. At least.

"The NBA MVP is a very political award," Kuzma said after the Lakers' 116-105 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday. "Bron should have been the MVP at least eight, nine, 10 times. Everybody knows that."

James' team officially started the campaign for the 36-year-old, now in his 18th season, to win his fifth after he dazzled with 37 points on 14-of-22 shooting, eight rebounds and six assists in the victory over the team owned by Michael Jordan, one of only three players in history with more MVPs than James.

When asked about Kuzma's claim, James admitted he felt he has been snubbed in the past, but he wouldn't specify how many he felt he deserved to win.

"I should have more than four, I believe," James said. "But ... I don't sit around thinking about it or crying about it, or whatever the case may be. I just try to come in the next season and be the MVP and be talked about [for] it again. I bet a lot of the greatest that played this game feel like they should have more as well, if you ask any one of those guys.

"This is another opportunity for me to able to be recognized as the best player for that particular season, and this season. So, hopefully, I can continue to just play great basketball and see what happens at the end."

The win over the Hornets lifted L.A. to 4-0 since the All-Star break, with all of those wins coming without Anthony Davis, who has been sidelined for more than a month with a calf strain and tendinosis in his right leg. In those four games, James put up a double-double against Indiana, back-to-back triple-doubles against Golden State and Minnesota, and the aforementioned monster stat line against Charlotte.

"He's playing every night, setting a great tone, I think, for young players and the whole league that, if he feels good, he's going to be in there and he's going to compete at a super-high level and dominate the game," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. "He's the MVP of the league, in my opinion, thus far because of that mindset and what he's doing for our team and he just wins the game in so many different ways. ... He's really doing it all for us."

It has been eight years since James last won the award after the 2012-13 season, his third season with the Miami Heat.

"It's a mistake on the voters' part to go season after season without voting the best player in the league MVP," Vogel said. "You know what I mean? That's the simplest way to put it. There's been other players that have been deserving, but he's been the best player in the league for as long as I can remember. Maybe since his second, third year in the league. It's just one of those things that's unfortunate. It's not right. And he should get it this year. He's doing it every night and no one is as deserving."

Last season, when he finished second for the award for the fourth time in his career -- finishing with just 16 first-place votes compared with the 85 first-place votes that the Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo received -- James admitted the result "pissed me off."

A month later, he won his fourth championship and earned his fourth Finals MVP in the process.

"That might've subliminally lit a fire under him, even though there's already a fire under him every time you're in the playoffs," said teammate Alex Caruso. "People vote for stuff, at the end of the day, players recognize greatness. ... I think the best player in the world, today, yesterday, has been LeBron.

"Obviously, I might be a little biased being his teammate and playing with him, but that's just how I feel."

Without outright proclaiming his right to the Maurice Podoloff Trophy for this season -- averaging 25.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.0 assists while missing only one game so far -- James admitted the award is something that's on his mind.

"It is something," he said. "It means something, for sure. I'm not going to sit here and say it doesn't mean anything to me. And for me to be able to win it a few times in my career has always been special. ... Being in the running, hearing my name with some of the best basketball players in the league this year again, it would mean a lot.

"At my age, what I'm able to do, what I've been doing this whole season, what I bring to the table every single night on both sides of the floor, it would mean an unbelievable thing for me, especially at this point in my career."

Trevor Bauer estimates spending about an hour each day logging his own metrics, a process that produces something in the neighborhood of 50 different data sets related to body composition and vital signs. The work is at the crux of Bauer's conviction about being able to start every four days. Workload, Bauer believes, isn't an issue so long as his body returns to optimal strength before each outing.

"Where it matters," the Los Angeles Dodgers righty said, "is if you're not getting back to 100% for every start."

Bauer is confident in his own ability to achieve this, but getting back to full strength between starts is a challenge for most pitchers even in the best of circumstances.

It's why the forthcoming innings jump concerns him.

"Yeah," Bauer said, "I think it's gonna be a problem."

Major League Baseball will return to a 162-game season in 2021, one year after the COVID-19 pandemic shortened its schedule to 60 games. That means 30 teams will scramble to fill an extra 900 or so innings, a frightening proposition for an industry increasingly fixated on the health of its pitchers. Starters and relievers throughout the sport are bracing for triple the workload and might inevitably pitch at fatigue levels that typically portend injuries. It's an unprecedented circumstance. Solutions remain elusive.

Marathon runners and race walkers are poised for thrilling and richly symbolic races on March 26 in Kew Gardens

If athletes taking part in the Müller British Athletics Olympic Marathon and 20km Walks Trials in Kew Gardens this month need to focus their minds on what is at stake, they merely need to glance to the side of the course during their race.

The event on March 26 coincides with ‘Sakura season’ – the time of year when cherry blossom trees come into bloom. Not only will it provide a picturesque back-drop but it is the national flower of Japan and a timely reminder to the runners that their efforts on the roads of south-west London could see them win a ticket to Tokyo.

Tom Bedford, the race director, describes it as an amusing twist of fate. It certainly was not in anyone’s mind when the Borough of Richmond venue was chosen ahead of Manchester, Dorney Lake and various horse and motor-racing courses to host the Olympic trials.

Instead, the main requirements were a fast, flat and sheltered course that can help athletes nail Olympic qualifying standards, plus the reliability factor of a venue during such an uncertain pandemic-hit period.

Marathon runners will tackle one small lap followed by 12 big laps, therefore passing the cherry blossom trees and Japanese gardens a dozen times. Organisers have worked in recent months with course measurer Hugh Jones to iron out some of the mild corners on the route, which means the course is not just aesthetically pleasing but fast too.

Bedford is certainly happy with the progress made and points to one particular straight that is almost an entire metric mile in distance.

READ MORE: British Olympic marathon and race walks trials: Who, what and when?

Contenders like Steph Davis have already checked out the course and Bedford describes it as “more of a flat road relays kind of course” such as the well-known circuit used at Sutton Coldfield for road relays “as opposed to the kind of course you get in big city marathons”.

This is partly because the path is only about four metres wide in places. However, with small fields and multiple pacemakers to ensure the going is quick through the first 30km in order to achieve qualifying times of 2:11:30 and 2:29:30, this should not be an issue. Plus, the course includes none of the inclines that the well-known Sutton Coldfield course contains.

“Our intention has been to make it as fast as possible,” says Bedford. “My advice to athletes is that they just switch off and go to sleep for an hour and follow ‘the train’ and then get ready to go when the pacemakers drop out.”

Amusingly the event also has an unofficial mascot, which Bedford discovered at Kew Gardens recently with AW photographer Mark Shearman. ‘Eric the peacock’ (see below) is a Richmond resident although runners will be hoping he doesn’t stray on to the course on race day.

On a more serious note, Bedford has been helped by his father, Dave, the former London Marathon race director with organising the event. Among other things Bedford Jnr was based in Portugal during the winter and fell ill with coronavirus in January, so his dad stepped into help primarily with technical areas.

The duo have also worked closely with staff at UK Athletics such as competitions and events director Katie Brazier during what has inevitably been a tricky few months due to the pandemic. Was there a particularly bad moment when the race was in doubt?

Bedford says shortly after Christmas when the virus began to surge and hospitals were in danger of being over-run was a worrying time. The Richmond Runfest, which was due to be held at the same venue on the Saturday and Sunday following the trials events on Friday, was postponed until mid-May. Apart from this, the organisers have been keen to give the Olympic hopefuls a near-definite goal to work toward.

“It’s been tough for athletes and they have my utmost respect for how they’ve managed to get themselves through this with everything from problems seeing physios to not even having a national endurance coach in charge during the winter,” says Bedford.

Spectators will not be allowed on race day, but each runner will be permitted one Tour de France-style ‘soigneur’ to help with their drinks. After the mild controversy relating to the British trials for the European Indoor Championships not being streamed, British Athletics are this time showing the action from Kew Gardens while there is still the possibility BBC may show the races too.

This will be the first time for 40 years that a British Olympic marathon trial has been staged as a standalone race in a similar style to the US Olympic trials. In 1980 the AAA Championships and trial for the Moscow Olympics took place in Milton Keynes. It was won by Ian Thompson in 2:14:00 from Dave Black and Andy Holden as 195 men finished. Yet from 1983 onwards the national championships and trials have been part of the London Marathon and the battle for selection is often a ‘race within a race’ with television struggling to capture the action.

There are also obvious comparisons with the standalone US Olympic marathon trials that have taken place in recent years in Atlanta (2020), Los Angeles (2016), Houston (2012) and New York (2011) with the latter, in the city’s Central Park, on a similar multi-lap course to the one we will see in Kew Gardens.

“There is such an appetite for this event,” Bedford enthuses. “I’ve always been a fan of the American trials system. The men’s race will be great on March 26 but the women’s race is going to be an absolute cracker as there are so many top runners in it. And if the athletes can make it as competitive as I think it’s going to be then this kind of trials race could become the norm.”

The venue has great history, too, with the Borough of Richmond being something of a home to British distance running. Not only does the area feature popular training areas of Bushy Park, Richmond Park and Wimbledon Common but it was birthplace of the London Marathon and parkrun.

In the race for Olympic selection, runners and race walkers will finish in front of Kew Gardens’ iconic Palm House glass building. The most symbolic feature, though, will surely be the cherry blossom trees that they will pass on a long winding road that will end, for some, on the streets of Tokyo.

Ben Connor, Dewi Griffiths, Steph Davis and Lily Partridge lead the entries for the 26.2-mile showdown at Kew Gardens on March 26 with Tom Bosworth heading the 20km walks line-up

Get ready to set your wake-up alarm early on Friday March 26. The Müller British Athletics Marathon and 20km Walk Trials kick off at dawn, but it will definitely be worth getting up for as athletes chase selection for the Tokyo Games.

Race walkers set off together at 6am at Kew Gardens in Richmond, south-west London, with the marathon runners away at 8am. After the disappointment of the British trials for the European Indoors not being streamed, too, there is good news as the races will be streamed on the British Athletics website and possibly even BBC with experts like Mara Yamauchi and Tim Hutchings among the commentators.

Just as well, because no spectators will be allowed due to the pandemic. However, no one is complaining too hard. It’s simply great news the event is happening at all after the coronavirus-related problems of recent months.

It is the first time for 40 years that a British Olympic marathon trial has been staged as a standalone race in a similar style to the US Olympic trials. The last one was Milton Keynes in 1980 and since then the London Marathon itself has acted as the trial event.

READ MORE: Olympic hopes ready to bloom at Kew Gardens

Marathon runners will be targeting the Olympic qualifying times of 2:11:30 (men) and 2:29:30 (women) with the first two finishers guaranteed selection as long as they have the qualifying time.

Selection is complicated, though, by the fact Callum Hawkins is pre-selected in the men’s team, whereas some athletes with qualifying standards are not racing the trials. These include Jonny Mellor, the British No.1 in 2020, who is not running due to injury. It means Mellor could still be picked for Tokyo if only one – or none – of the athletes at the trials break the standard.

The same is the case in the women’s race with Charlie Purdue and Jess Piasecki missing the trials but Purdue comfortably inside the qualifying standard in London in April in 2019 and Piasecki breaking the mark by a large margin in December 2019.

Due to the fact the Tokyo Games should have been last year, the qualification windows to achieve standard in the marathon have been from January 1, 2019, to April 5, 2020, and September 1, 2020, to March 29 this year.

Both the 20km walk and marathon will be mixed sex races too with men and women setting off together. This will inevitably lead to a few runners being lapped but it is not expected to be a big issue.

Women’s contenders

Steph Davis and Lily Partridge lead the entries following the withdrawal of several big-name Olympic hopefuls.

Partridge looks in shape after running 32:33 for 10,000m in Newport this month, which was also probably done during a heavy training period. With a family steeped in running tradition, she carries stacks of experience, is the British half-marathon champion and her best over 26.2 miles from 2018 shows she’s capable of beating the qualifying standard to make what will be her first Olympics.

Davis, meanwhile, is the fastest on paper with a best of 2:27:40 from Valencia in December 2019 and is one of the rising stars of domestic distance running. The Clapham Chasers athlete has been checking out the course in Richmond in recent weeks with her coach Phil Kissi as well but, like many runners, comes into the race with no recent form as her last race was more than 12 months ago at the Vitality Big Half.

Despite the withdrawals the women’s race is stronger in depth than the men’s too. Natasha Cockram and Naomi Mitchell were the top two Brits at the London Marathon in October and will hope for further improvements at the trials.

Mitchell was a modest club runner for years but was a surprising leader of the British female field in London in October before Cockram ran her down in the latter stages.

READ MORE: Naomi Mitchell’s eye-catching marathon progress

Cockram ran 2:33:19 that day in poor weather but her best of 2:30:49 is the Welsh record and she is seemingly improving in every marathon after initially struggling with the transition from super-talented teenage runner to senior.

Sarah Inglis, who is featured in depth in the March issue of AW magazine, is another strong contender and ran sub-2:30 recently, whereas Tracy Barlow and Tish Jones both know what it takes to qualify for major championships.

Charlotte Arter, meanwhile, is an interesting debutante. One of Britain’s best distance runners in recent years, she has run sub-70min over the half-marathon although she dropped out of a recent 10,000m in Newport and may not be 100% fit.

The trials environment is tailor-made for surprises as well. Look out for Annabel Gummow, for example, who excelled in her teenage years and ran for Britain in the World and European cross country championships but is now 27 and hoping to make her mark in her debut marathon.

Men’s contenders

Ben Connor was second Brit home in the Virgin Money London Marathon in October and is rumoured to have gone well in training lately. The Derby runner also has the qualifying standard so doesn’t need to break it at the trials, which means he could run tactically to simply finish in the top two.

Dewi Griffiths (below) has the best PB, though, with a sub-2:10 clocking to his name from 2017. The Welshman is also said to have wintered well after a previous period of injury problems.

Look out too for fellow Welshman and namesake Josh Griffiths, plus the versatile ultra-running specialist Tom Evans.

Mo Aadan is an interesting debutante, however, with a 62:30 half-marathon best, which certainly suggests the Thames Valley Harrier is capable of the qualifying time.

Then there is Chris Thompson, an athlete who has graced the pages of AW since the mid-1990s and who will be sentimental favourite for many. At his best he is a 2:11 marathoner and 27:27 10,000m runner but he will be 40 in April and this is surely his last dance when it comes to making global championships.

Who is missing?

Callum Hawkins might be pre-selected but AW can reveal he is still running in the trials … as a pacemaker!

His brother, Derek, a 2:12 man at his best will not run, though. Neither will Jonny Mellor, who ran 2:10 twice last year, after an attack of gout led to ankle problems in recent weeks, as exclusively revealed by AW recently.

Jess Piasecki, the Stockport runner who is No.3 on the UK all-time rankings with 2:25:28 when winning the Florence Marathon in 2019, is one of several disappointing absentees from the women’s field. In fact, that Florence race 16 months ago is the last time she has raced, although most of the field have barely raced in the past year due to the pandemic.

Charlotte Purdue also dropped out of the trials race with only just over a week to go following reports that she has struggled with injury this winter. Like Piasecki she has a 2:25 PB to her name and sits just behind Piasecki on the UK all-time rankings in fourth place.

Other absentees include 2:26 runner Steph Twell, who is now focusing on 10,000m instead, plus 2:31 runner Jenny Spink and 2:32 runner Hayley Carruthers. US-based Brit Alice Wright and 2008 Olympian Kate Reed were also pencilled into early entry lists and set to enjoy marathon debuts but will not be on the start line.

Bosworth leads race walks entries

Tom Bosworth is the big name in the 20km race walks trials. He was sixth in the Olympic Games 20km five years ago in Rio and has a best of 79:38 compared to the men’s qualifying standard of 81:00.

Callum Wilkinson is also in fine form after improving his UK 10,000m record this month in Newport. With Kew Gardens set to open to the public from late morning, there is pressure to get the races underway, so the race walkers will be setting off together at 6am.

They will tackle a one-mile loop that is smaller than the marathon course later in the morning and the fields also include Cameron Corbishley, Dominic and Daniel King, whereas the women’s field includes Beth Davies, Gemma Bridge, Heather Lewis and Erika Kelly as they aim for the Tokyo standard of 91:00.

Here are the complete marathon fields

Women (athlete, club, PB)

Steph Davis, Clapham Chasers, 2:27:40
Lily Partridge, Aldershot, 2:29:24
Sarah Inglis, Lothian, 2:29:41
Tracy Barlow, Thames Valley, 2:30:42
Natasha Cockram, Mickey Morris RT, 2:30:49
Tish Jones, Belgrave, 2:31:00
Naomi Mitchell, Reading, 2:33:23
Rebecca Gentry, Unattached, 2:37:01
Claire Grima, Hercules Wimbledon, 2:40:38
Rosie Edwards, Rotherham, 2:40:49
Samantha Harrison, Charnwood, 2:51:33
Charlotte Taylor-Green, Bristol & West, 2:36:54
Johanna O’Regan, Riverside, 2:41:31
Clara Evans, Cardiff, 2:46:03
Charlotte Arter, Cardiff, Debut
Becky Briggs, City of Hull, Debut
Annabel Gummow, Winchester, Debut

Men (athlete, club, PB)

Dewi Griffiths, Swansea, 2:09:49
Chris Thompson, Aldershot, 2:11:19
Ben Connor, Derby, 2:11:20
Josh Griffiths, Swansea, 2:13:11
Matt Clowes, Cardiff, 2:13:57
Andrew Davies, Stockport, 2:14:36
Robbie Simpson, Deeside Runners, 2:14:56
Nick Torry, Serpentine, 2:15:04
Adam Hickey, Southend, 2:16:56
Paul Martelletti, Victoria Park & TH, 2:16:49
Paul Navesey, City of Portsmouth, 2:17:16
Josh Lunn, Cardiff, 2:17:59
Ian Leitch, Brighton Phoenix, 2:18:33
Tom Evans, Lewes, 2:26:04
Mo Aadan, Thames Valley, Debut
Frank Baddick, Newham, Debut
Nigel Martin, Sale, Debut